At the moment he is asleep under my bed.. I'm posting to request your compassionate
thoughts across the miles for this buddy.

A few months ago he showed up at the window in the cold, looking as if starving. Bit by
bit I would feed him (outside). I thought he was entirely feral, being fully intact male
and very tough, beat up looking. Wouldn't come near me in the beginning. But he was so hungry.

So hungry, so plaintive. Gradually came closer, let himself be touched.
(He must have been with people once, as now we've discovered he is extremely affectionate,
wanting VERY much to be touched massaged petted scratched combed cuddled kissed and
FED.)

The more we touched, the more I realized he needed some vet care but thinking he was
feral I didn't want to traumatize him or me. As it turned out he practically climbed into
the cat carrier himself. He has not once scratched, growled, snarled, bitten. Although a
full big Tom, he is humble gentle and respectful around the other cats.

So what do you do?
A bum cat shows up, hungry and poor. Filthy, ragged.
He has nobody, nothing.
His ear is half torn off and his face is scarred, ugly.
It's freezing outside.
We can barely afford to feed the cats we have now.
But but but
we are not the 1%.
it's hardly a choice.

Buddy more or less moves in, and we take him to the vet. He's actually in pretty good shape...
until.. except.. oops ... he has FIV.

FIV is like HIV for cats. Not curable as far as we know. Contagious, but not likely through casual
contact. Spread mostly through bites fights & sex. Undermines the immune system, generally
shortens the kitty's life. Doesn't have to. This is as much as I know so far. Like a friend who is
HIV positive. Needs care. Don't be scared. Love is everything, everything.

Here he's making a goofy face after finishing his bowl of green goo.
But but but but sigh one day at a time we will figure it out.

Brian Murphy (@burrite) is a former political reporter in New Jersey and now an assistant professor of history at Baruch College, where he studies political economy and the politics of banking and infrastructure in the early American republic. He worked for David Wildstein in 2002 as the managing editor of PoliticsNJ.com and is also a friend of Bill Baroni. Both men are intimately involved in the scandal. He has not spoken with either about the scandal. He has never met Wildstein in person, and has not seen Baroni since 2009.